Amid controversies surrounding the evacuation of Nigerian citizens from Sudan, one of the buses conveying stranded citizens from Khartoum to Port Sudan, where they will move into Saudi Arabia, reportedly caught fire on Monday.

Twenty-six buses, transporting the evacuees left at Al Razi around 12 am on Monday, for Port Sudan after days of delay.

Sani Aliyu, who is in Sudan, narrated the ugly experience, saying “One of the buses conveying some 50 Nigerian students from Sudan with a tag number (Katsina 1), heading to Port Sudan as part of the second batch of FGN evacuation got damaged due to excessive heat from one of the vehicle’s tyres.

“Dr Hashim Idris Na’Allah, the chairman of the Nigerian Elders’ Forum in Sudan, was one of the passengers in the said bus, which contained a total of 50 students (49 males, 1 female).

“The incident happened around 2:30am Sudan time.

“The driver stopped the bus near an RSF checkpoint, just before the tire exploded causing a fire to start.

“All the passengers escaped unhurt.

“Forty out of the 50 passengers were later distributed to the other buses evacuating the students, while the remaining passengers spent the night where the incident happened alongside the driver at the RSF checkpoint.

“The students said the RSF really did their possible best to help the passengers and offered them with cups of tea in the morning before they left”, Aliyu said, adding that they however continued their journey to Port Sudan after the incident.

Over 1,000 Nigerians are being evacuated through the Port Sudan route following the difficulties faced in getting the first batch of evacuees across the Egypt borders. Read more.

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